U.S., world send holiday joy pouring Fourth
Celebrations of all sorts proclaim birthday cheer
NEW YORK — Americans are celebrating their country’s 241st birthday with big-time fireworks, small-town parades and the quirky spectacle of competitive hot dog eating.
Tuesday’s festivities stretch from traditional fireworks shows in New York, Boston and Chicago to a baseball home run derby in London.
For all the pomp and celebration, July Fourth marks a day of shared traditions in a nation that has grappled with divides this past year. And in an era of concerns about security, the Independence Day celebrations are mixed with precautions.
Some highlights from around the world:
Lighting up the skies
In New York, throngs watched the annual Macy’s fireworks show, which involves 60,000 shells launched from up to five barges on the East River, and performances by Jennifer Lopez, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley and others. It’s televised on NBC.
Organizers of Chicago’s Independence Day celebration expected such large crowds that the city’s Navy Pier opened at 10 a.m., nearly 12 hours before fireworks began. Hundreds of thousands of people also turned out for Boston’s fireworks show and Boston Pops concert.
Classic cars in California
Decked out in red, white and blue, Californians waved flags and sang patriotic songs at Independence Day parades across the state.
Hundreds lined the streets under bright sunshine Tuesday for seaside Santa Monica’s annual celebration, which featured bands and classic cars.
California’s love affair with the automobile was also front-and-center at South Pasadena’s parade, which had the theme “Freedom on the Road. Celebrating Route 66.”
When the sun set, the parties continued with fireworks displays. Among the largest in the Los Angeles area was the annual fanfare at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
To the north, officials hoped clouds would clear in time for the big display over San Francisco Bay.
Observing July Fourth overseas
A bit of American sports culture was being displayed in London’s Hyde Park, where several former major leaguers competed in a home run derby. Major League Baseball aims to build interest in the sport in Britain and Europe, despite the region’s long-standing preference for soccer.
Charlie Hill, the managing director of Major League Baseball for Europe, said the Independence Day exhibition is an attempt to “lay down roots” in Britain. He said it’s possible that some official games will be played in London during the 2019 season.
Meanwhile, Denmark hosted the Rebild Festival, considered one of the largest Fourth of July celebrations outside the United States. Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen, who recently tweeted that President Donald Trump “should tighten up, focus on the struggle for freedom and show respect for the presidency” in response to the U.S. president’s Twitter habit, told festivalgoers that “when you are friends, you have the right to criticize.”
Samuelsen added, however, that it is “impossible” to live without the United States.
Welcoming new Americans
More than 15,000 new citizens were sworn in during more than 65 Independence Day-themed naturalization ceremonies across the country. They took place in locales ranging from courthouses to parks to aircraft carriers-turned-museums.
Securing the celebrations
The New York Police Department stationed 100 vehicles to block intersections and 20 sand-filled sanita- tion trucks to fortify viewing areas for the Macy’s fireworks show. Heavily armed counterterrorism units mingled among spectators, officers had portable radiation detection devices and bomb-sniffing dogs, and officers were stationed on rooftops to look out for any sign of trouble.
Boston police also put trucks and other heavy equipment near the celebration there. Police in both cities said there were no confirmed threats.
In a somber observance of the toll of terrorism, small American flags were placed by all the nearly 3,000 names on the National Sept. 11 Memorial in New York on Tuesday morning.
Daylong party in Philly
In Philadelphia, where the Founding Fathers approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, a daylong national birthday party took place.
At a celebration of freedom at Independence Hall on Tuesday morning, members of Boyz II Men read excerpts from the document, and a parade was held through the city’s historic area. Descendants of some of the signers of the declaration were to take part in the annual ceremonial tapping of the Liberty Bell later Tuesday.
Then, hundreds of thousands were expected to attend a party on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway with hours of free music capped by a concert by Mary J. Blige and ending with the annual fireworks display.
Fatal fireworks
Officials say an Indiana man died in Kentucky after a fireworks accident.
The Gleaner reported that the Henderson County coroner’s office said 25-year-old Michael Osborne died Monday night at a hospital.
A deputy coroner said Osborne, of Salem, Indiana, was bending over a firework to light it when it went off prematurely and hit him in the chest.
The firework hit Osborne hard enough to stop his heart, and the preliminary cause of death is blunt force trauma. An autopsy was planned.